Drive mechanism for paddle wheels of boats



, Jan, 22 W24. j 1,481,527

L. T. PEARSALL ET AL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR PADDLE WHEELS OF BOATS Filed April 18, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 22, 1924., 1,481,527 L T. PEARSALL ,ET AL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR PADDLE WHEELS 0F BOATS Jan. 22, 19 24. 1,481,527

v L. T. PEARSALL ETAL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR PADDLE WHEELS OF BOATS Filed April 18', 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet s /N V NTORS 7. WSQQQ Patented Jan. 22, I924.

UNITED, STATES PATENT o-FFicE.

; LUTHER T. PEARSALL ennwnnnnnntsnr, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

DRIVE MECHANISM FOR PADDLE WHEELS OF BOATS.

Application fil edApril 18, 1923. Serial No. 632,963.

the power-transmission mechanism. Figs. VI and VII show in side elevation and in plan from above (and this also to larger scale than Figs. III'and'IV) a detail of a 55 To all whom it may concern Be it known thatwe, LUTHER T. PnARsALL and WARREN ELsEY, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, citizens o-fthe United States,

have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Drive Mechanism for Paddle WVheels of Boats, of which-imp-rovements the following'isa specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in drive mechanism for thepaddle wheels of boats; it concerns the communication of power through a rotary shaft to the'rotary paddle wheel, and has particularly to do with making"fiexible the power-transmission mechanism, so as'to provide for an appreciable and relatively great movement as between the boat structure, and the propelling member. Such movement is an incident to service, and, particularly in the.

7 and gearing, which shall'be exib-le to meet service conditions and yet 'efiici-ent and an p couplings 11 and 12. The forward section is driven from the engine shaft through the 85 rable in the transmission of power.

In the accompanying drawlngs Flg. I is a view in side elevation, and Fig. II a View in plan, of a boat havin our invention applied to it. In Fig. I

and horizontal section. In these two figures the outlines of the boat and itssuperstruct'u're aresufliciently developed to indicate how the engine and the power transmission parts are arranged within it. Figs. III and IV are views to larger scale, showing in side elevation and in plan from above, so much of the power-transmission mechanism as immediately engages thepaddle wheel. Fig. V is a view to still larger scale, showing in elevation the shaft of the paddle wheel", and, in section the anchorageby which adjustment is made between the paddle-wheel shaft and the paddle wheelis, for the sake of clearn'ess, shown in axial support for the driving mechanism.

Referring, first, to Figs. I and II, the boat is indicated in outline by the numeral 1, its paddle wheel by 2. 3 is the engine and 4,

1O itspower-transmission shaft. The paddle so wheel 2 turns in bearings borne by brackets 22 which extend from the hull of the boat. The engine may be of any type preferred, capable of imparting torque to the shaft 4,

l0. l/Ve show an internal-combustion engine, as

of modified Diesel type, for that is the em ginewhich we have adopted for installation. The shaft l, 10 carries a beveled pinion 5 which meshes with a beveled gear-wheel 6 (cf. Fig. IV), with which the axle 7 of the paddle-wheel is equipped Between the engine shaft 8 (Fig. I) and the power-transmission shaft 4, 10 is a two speed gear reduction with sliding pinions.

This is a well-knownmechanical part, and

we have deemed detailed showing of it to be unnecessary. The casing which contains it is indicated at The power-transmission shaft is made in three sections, the anterior, which is unnumbered, the medial, towhich the numeral 4 is inimedlately applied, and the posterior, 10. The three sections are united by flexible forward end it is equipped with a roller 14, 100

which runs in a channel extending horizontally and transversely upon the stern of the lings l1 and 12, between which Its particular construction will boat. This channel may take the form of a special casting 15 secured to the boat structure. The periphery of the roller 14: is spherical, or substantially so as is best indicated in Figs. VI and VI The drawings do not show the structure in this detail, but it will be undertsood: the

paddle wheel is at its ends journaled in arms which extend rearward on either side, from. the hull of the boat, and, as is well known, there is necessarily a certain amount of flexibility of this mounting of the paddle wheel to the hull of the boat, and the structure of the nature indicated is designed with such flexibility in view.

Now it will be apparent that the bridge member 13, pivoted in vertical plane to the axle of the paddle-wheel, and equipped at the base which rests upon the hull of the boat, with a spherically rimmed roller running in a straight-walled channel, is freely responsive to every displacement of the paddle-wheel relative to the hull of the boat,whether that displacement be in straight-line movement or torsional.

The shaft section 10 is, as is best shown in Figs. HI and IV, mounted on bridge member 13, in the guide bearings 16 and 17 The beveled gear wheel 6 is secure upon axle 7 of the paddle-wheel. The bifurcated ends of bridge member 13 include the gear wheel. The journal bearings 18 and 19 carried by the arms of the bifurcated bridge member, and within which axle 7 turns, encircle the axle 7 upon opposite sides of the hub of gear wheel 6. The bevel-gear pinion 5 borne by shaft section 10 extends into the space between the bifurcations of the bridge member, and there engages the bevel-gear wheel 6. Means are provided for holding pinion 5 in full and firm intermeshing enga'gement with gear wheel 6. The structure will be understood on comparing Figs. IV and V.

Upon axle 7 is rigidly secured a collar 20. Set screws 21 extend from casing 19 and, through a suitable interposed block, bear upon the rotating collar 20. As these screws are tightened and loosened the thrust under which pinion 5 is held to engagement with gear wheel 6 is increased and diminished.

The problem is a drive mechanism which includes a rotary transmission shaft and which is flexible to meet conditions of service. We solve the problem by providing the bifurcated bridge member with floating base, by mounting the transmission shaft on this bridge member, with flexible coupling connecting it to the source of power, and by providing a collar upon the axle of the paddle wheel against which purchase is had for the thrust holding the parts of the bevelgear in mesh. The shaft section 4, extending as it does free between the flexible couplings which engage it at opposite ends and so carry it, cannot in consequence of relative displacement of its ends be subjected to any strain.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a power-driven boat the combination with the hull of the boat, brackets extending fromthe hull, and a paddle-wheel rotatable in bearings borne by said brackets, of an engine having a rotary power shaft carried by the boat, a floating bridge member spannin' g the space between'the hull and paddlewheel axle and sustained by said paddlewheel axle, a transmission shaft journalled upon said bridge member, means for imparting rotation from the engine shaft to the transmission shaft, and means for imparting rotation from the transmission shaft to the paddle-wheel axle.

2. In a power-driven boat-the combination with the hull of the boat, brackets extending fromthe hull, and a paddle-wheel rotatable in bearings borne by said brackets, of an engine having a rotary power shaft carried by the boat, a bridge member resting at one end upon the axle of the-paddle-wheel and at the other end making a floating bearing upon the hull of the boat, a transmission shaft carried in bearings upon said bridge member, means for transmitting rotation from the engine shaft to the transmission shaft and means for imparting rotation from the transmissionshaft to the axle of the paddle wheel. I

3. In combination with a boat carrying a paddle wheel in bearings subject to displacement with respect to the hull of the boat, an engine having a rotary power shaft carried by the boat and with respect to which also the paddle-wheel bearings are subject to displacement, a bifurcated bridge member provided in its bifurcations with bearings through which it rests upon the axle of the paddle wheel and provided at its opposite end with a roller having a spherical tread and arranged within and resting within a channel-formed uponthe boat structure and extending in general parallelism with the paddle-Wheel axle, a transmission shaft section mounted in bearings upon said bridge member, means including a flexible coupling for transmitting rotation from said power shaft to said shaft section, and rotationtransmitting connection between said shaftsection and the axle of the paddle wheel.

4:. In combination with a boat. carrying a paddle wheel and an engine with a power shaft borne by the boat and with respect to which the bearings for the axle of said paddle wheel are subject to displacement, a bifurcated bridge member provided with bearings through which the axle of the paddle wheel extends and within which said axle rotates, a shaft borne by and rotatable in journals upon said bridge member and through bevelled-gears engaging the axle of In testimony whereof we have hereunto said paddle wheel, a shoulder upon the axle set our hands.

of the paddle wheel, and thrust mechanism LUTHER T. PEARSALL. borne by said bridge member and adapted WARREN ELSEY.

6 to engage said shoulder and by such en- Witnesses:

gagement to hold the wheels of said bevelled- S. A. MOFARLAND,

gearing in mesh. W. C. PLUIMER. 

